Vancouver Island Paddlefest 2006

Saturday was a gorgeous day! And we headed up the island to Ladysmith for Paddlefest, an annual kayaking and watersports show.

Would you trust this man driving? Some did and lived to tell the tale.


Ladysmith on the bay.


"Oh, look," said Louise and Bernie....


"....kayaks!"


Paula and Bernie argue over how many kayaks they can fit into my van. (Apparently it will be my job to create a distraction.)


There were lectures, display booths, boat trials and contests. For instance, you could try firing a harpoon gun at the kayaks. First person to hit a kayak won a kevlar PFD. Paula liked this contest waaaaaay too much.


But seriously folks, Bernie did win a hat.


There was something for everyone here, even me!


Kayaks as far as the eye (or camera lens) can see!



Bernie tried this kayak trailer from Tony's Trailers. By coincidence, Bernie just happens to be pulling a Pamlico 100, the same model boat as his own. He said it was very easy to tow and ride around on.


Now here's something interesting. This kayak has a clear bottom so you can see the rocks as you scrape your hull along them. I suppose you could also look through the bottom at sea-life in shallow shores. The skirt also had a see-through panel. What a great idea!


And a fun time was had by all!

Sooke Basin

Sunday dawned windy and rainy. And worse, one by one, all the regular paddlers dropped out. Oh, they claimed to have valid excuses -- Dennis is out of the country, and Bernie is dead. Or sick. I dunno, I forget.
But Louise and I were undaunted. Most would cancel their paddle plans and go shopping at this point. Not us! Bad weather and wimpy paddle buddies weren't going to stop us! Sooke Basin, here we come!

A 45 minute drive took us to Sooke, a small village on the West Coast. I used to live in Sooke, but this was before I was a paddler. The basin seems smaller than I remember it. Or maybe the tide is out.


The scenery is wonderful, and the view out of my kayak just can't be beat!

There wasn't much wildlife, except for a lone seal that came up beside my kayak.

He hung around for a while...

...and he was very friendly!

The mountains across the strait were high-peaked and snowcapped.

It was a long, long paddle. But we had thought ahead and stopped for a little picnic on a beach before heading home.

Sooke Basin launch map

Hi paddlers!
We're talking about paddling Sooke Basin, tomorrow, May 7, meeting at nine am.

The launch place is a parking lot at Cooper Cove, park right off the Sooke Highway 14. Remember the Tire Store when you're nearly to Sooke? After that is a big turn to the right and downhill slope. At the bottom of the slope there's a little bay on the left (muddy at low tide), and a small gravel parking lot between the highway and a large building (shaped like an old-fashioned house) that holds a trying-to-be fancy restaurant with a small wharf. On the wharf are a motorboat and a few kayaks. We park in the small gravel parking lot. See you there at nine, eh?
If you cross Ayum Creek and start to drive uphill again, you've gone too far and will soon be in Sooke village. Turn around.
We may end up paddling round to Roche Cove or even Anderson Cove and back.

April 23 Pool Pics

Sunday evening found us in the Crystal pool here in Victoria. Pacifica has six spots a week for people who what a chance to practice in super safe conditions, and this week it was us.
we made a point of being upside down a lot: For example, this is me, upside down before my wet exit and attempted solo recovery.



The picture-taking went better than the recovery. Last summer when we sunk the Pamlico 100 it was in its stock condition: The hull was completely open with only two small pieces of foam in the bow ands stern to add flotation. I don't think the coaming actually broke the surface of the water when the boat was filled. Thankfully we were 7 metres off the beach when we did this, and could simply pull it in and empty it.
Knowing this, I've tried to provide better floatation and safety rigging. Finally Sikaflex was recommended to me and seems to have satisfactorily sealed a 100 mm bulkhead into place behind the seat in the Pam.



Next I added a rear hatch cover (not originally installed on the boat, I had to order it in), straps to hold it on under stressful circumstances, and a perimeter line around the back. The current models of the Pamlico 100 have the hatch cover installed, but there is no bulkhead, so the cover is really pointless.



There is only minimal space in the front of the boat, making the Pamlico now do a "Cleopatra's Needle" if I fill it with water. The normal solution is to add a flotation bag to the stern and /or bow. But the Pam's carry handles are held on with large sharp screws--that normally terminate inside the chunks of foam used as floatation. So rather than drop serious coin on a bag, I thought I'd try something a bit cheaper--a can of Great Stuff expanding polyurethane foam. I sprayed it into the bow and let it set up. If it fails to do the job, no big. As the boat is poly, the foam will peel right off.



Apparently it would have been better if I stood the boat on its nose while the foam hardened, but heck, this is all experimental at the moment....
The deck line is essential for holding onto when trying to re-enter the boat. Or, as I worked out, for tucking the paddle under when I used the paddle float to create an outrigger to help stabilize the Pam while I tried to get back in. Turns out for a solo recovery the phrase "scramble recovery" is pretty much exactly correct. And if you blow the re-entry, you're toast. Or a bloated corpse being nibbled by crabs...because if the boat does fill up with water, there is no way you can empty enough of it out to avoid the "Cleopatra's Needle" effect. I doubt, though still have to try, that even a float bag will help. The problem is, I think, implicit in the design of the boat; there just isn't enough space forward of the cockpit to fill with floatation to overcome the weight of the water in the cockpit.
The Pam is a stable boat, though. At 30" wide (762 millimetres) with a very flat broad bottom, the Pamlico has a very high initial stability--even though the seat bottom is a bit higher off the deck than I might like....
Paula, in her Old Town Adventure XL 125, also had a lot of fun being upside down....



John was having an upside-down good time too.



And although the pictures suck, Dennis had to show off that not only can he dump his boat and get back in a dozen different ways with no trouble, but his Advancedframe kayak (model AE1012-R) is stable enough that he can stand up in it too.



And Louise just generally had a good time with her new boat getting tired and sore.



All in all, a terrific evening that showed us we really don't know as much as we think we do. But we're learning fast.

Thetis Island

Yesterday, we headed out to Thetis Island. About a 90 minutes drive north of Victoria, you'll find the lovely little tourist trap of Chemainus. From here a short ferry trip takes you to Thetis Island. We carried our boats on the ferry and set sail.


On the ferry, we passed a rock covered in seals.


After a brief stop on Kuper Island, we approached Thetis Island.


A short haul down a somewhat steep path lead us to the beach. We geared up and got underway (trying not to think the climb up the path that will be coming later.)


And away we go! It was our largest fleet yet: myself, Louise, Dennis, Paula, Bernie and their friends Tom and Barb who came all the way from Alberta just to paddle with us!


More splishing and splashing.


A big purple starfish.


A friendly seal.


The Thetis Island ferry on another trip.


Some fun wake action after the ferry passed.


Some cormorants watching us stupid humans playing in the waves.


There were some interesting rock formations, including these example of stratification.


After some paddling, food and drink were clearly in order! Tom and Barb discuss the menu at the Thetis Island Marina and Pub.


Yes, I know there's a funny yellow thing over my head. What's your point?


There's not many restaurants in the world where you have to worry about an eagle pooping in your meal.


Unfortunately for Paula, she's just realized that she's getting stuck with the bill.


After some digestion, we returned to the water and found the Island of the Seals.
Bernie and I drifted close by. We could hear them snorting and talking to each other.



We carried on and found more interesting shorelines.




A tyrannosaurus skull or a piece of driftwood? I'll let you decide.


"What do you mean we've only got 3 minutes until the ferry gets here?"

A quick load up!


Bernie sighs in relief as he realizes that I didn't take any goofy pictures of him to post in the blog.


My pictures are here.